"I
believe that the majority of Hispanics share our view that the border
must be secured, and the border must be secured first," McCain said.
"But they also want us to have an attitude, which I think most
Americans do, that these are God's children and they must be taken care
of, or the issue must be addressed, in a humane and compassionate
fashion. And I will continue to carry that message with the priority
that we must secure our borders first."

Most significantly, McCain came back to his "comprehensive" (i.e.
amnesty) roots in a speech designed to cater to Latino voters. McCain
said, "We get in this kind of a circular firing squad on immigration
reform in the Congress of the United States, and the lesson I learned
from it is we've got to have comprehensive immigration reform" Read more at Fire Society.

Take a look at this political giveaway – “Assistance for the Raza Development Fund” – straight from the text of the bill:

(c) ASSISTANCE FOR RAZA DEVELOPMENT FUND.—

(1) USE.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may
make a grant to the Raza Development Fund for the purpose of providing
technical and financial assistance to local non-profit organizations to
undertake community development and affordable housing projects and
programs serving low- and moderate-income households, particularly
through organizations located in neighborhoods with substantial
populations of income-disadvantaged households of Hispanic origin.
Assistance provided by the Secretary under this subsection may be used
by the Raza Development Fund…

(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— There is authorized to be appropriated for grants under this subsection—

(A) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and
(B) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

January 11, 2008

Illegal immigrants depressed wages in Arizona to the tune of $1.4
billion in 2006 and dipped lower-skilled legal workers' pay by 4.7
percent.

That is according to a study by a Harvard University economist
commissioned by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. The MCAO had the
study done as part of its defense of the state's new employer sanctions
law.

Business and Hispanic groups have challenged that law questioning its validity and arguing it would hurt the state's economy.

The study by Harvard economist George Borjas said hiring illegal
immigrants depresses wages because they work for lower pay and
sometimes are paid under the table. The study said illegal immigrants
primarily impact wages and jobs held by legal workers with lower
education levels. Borjas said that illegals make up 10 percent of all
state workers and decrease all wages by 1.5 percent. Read more...

The Vietnam War Memorial at Long Wharf was spray painted with the threatening words “Kill whites MS 13.”

Seeing this just crushed the veterans we spoke to. The names on that
wall that are covered in paint, are the names of those who fought and
died for this country in the Vietnam War. Tonight, police are
investigating whether this is the work of a violent street gang, but
the veterans we spoke to, say whoever they are, aren’t as tough as they
might think.

Whoever did it sprayed “MS-13″ all over the place. According to law
enforcement, MS 13 is a violent international gang with roots in El
Salvador. Members are involved in drug trafficking, weapons trafficking
and even human trafficking and their presence is growing in the U-S.
Just this summer, police in the Boston area did a big round-up of MS 13
gang members.

That said, New Haven police say there hasn’t been any documented
MS-13 activity so far in the city. But they are investigating this
incident.

December 09, 2007

My
rating of a candidate's past performance in political office is at the
bottom of the grid. It can't be changed by new promises. Hence, even
though Huckabee now has a lot of green ratings for promises, he still
has a red "bad" for his past work as governor.

The
rest of the ratings are indeed based on promises. The GRID is primarily
forward looking. We want to know what a candidate says he/she will do
as President. Many of you are cynical; you believe the candidates will
just lie to get your votes and then will do the opposite of what they
promise. I don't see it that way. Part of what all of us are doing
during this campaign cycle is forcing candidates to make better and
better promises in more and more public ways. I think it will be very
dangerous for any of them to back out after being so public.

The
GRID is so much more important than anything you have heard in the
debates and ads which have mainly majored in the minors. All the
argument between Romney and Guiliani, for example, about sanctuary
cities has been about something that is important but rather minor
compared to most of the other items on the GRID.

The grid breaks down border security into 16 specific issues and rates each candidate, side by side, with a green (good to excellent), black (fair to poor) or red (bad to abysmal) rating. The number rankings are my own, based on which candidate has the most excellent/good ratings.

I should note that Numbers USA is a zero population growth group. Four of the issues listed pertain to legal immigration. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with increasing legal immigration if the borders were secured.

However, I believe Roy Beck's information to be reliable, and a useful tool for examining where pols stand on specific border issues. The grid is laden with links for each issue anddetailed reports on each candidate.

November 27, 2007

Terrorists have been involved in the drug trade for decades. The southern border is a major pipeline for the drug trade...so what could happen? Nothing. At least not in the minds of a country that can't understand why Mitt Romney doesn't want to allow Muslims on his cabinet. Not in the minds of a press that can't remember Ft Dix, 9/11, USS Cole , or even connect what those incidents have in common.

Fort Huachuca, the nation's largest intelligence-training center,
changed security measures in May after being warned that Islamist
terrorists, with the aid of Mexican drug cartels, were planning an
attack on the facility.

Fort officials changed security
measures after sources warned that possibly 60 Afghan and Iraqi
terrorists were to be smuggled into the U.S. through underground
tunnels with high-powered weapons to attack the Arizona Army base,
according to multiple confidential law enforcement documents obtained
by The Washington Times.

"A portion of the operatives were in
the United States, with the remainder not yet in the United States,"
according to one of the documents, an FBI advisory that was distributed
to the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA, Customs and Border
Protection and the Justice Department, among several other law
enforcement agencies throughout the nation. "The Afghanis and Iraqis
shaved their beards so as not to appear to be Middle Easterners."

According
to the FBI advisory, each Middle Easterner paid Mexican drug lords
$20,000 "or the equivalent in weapons" for the cartel's assistance in
smuggling them and their weapons through tunnels along the border into
the U.S. The weapons would be sent through tunnels that supposedly
ended in Arizona and New Mexico, but the Islamist terrorists would be
smuggled through Laredo, Texas, and reclaim the weapons later. Read more.

November 18, 2007

KOLD News 13 is the only news outlet to obtain this FBI
urgent report outlining a possible terrorist threat right here in
southern Arizona. It speaks specifically to Fort Huachuca in Sierra
Vista.

The document gives no timetable or explanation of how the threat
will be carried out. But does say, “a group of Iraqis may have entered
the United States through tunnels from Mexico into Arizona,” and those
same “Iraqis are believed to be the ones who will perpetrate the attack
on Fort Huachuca.”

Lt. Colonel Matthew Garner of the United States Army says, “The
military is always a target, I believe.” For security purposes, Lt.
Col. Garner wouldn’t tell us what’s been done or what’s being done to
stop the threat. But he did say the U.S. Government takes this very
seriously. And that Fort Huachuca is fully aware and prepared for
anything that comes its way. ...

According to the report which cites sources and sub sources within
the DEA, the Iraqis may currently be located on an “unidentified Indian
reservation” in Arizona. The Tohono O’odham nation is one possibility,
with more than 2 and half million acres that start near Casa Grande and
continue south all the way to the Mexico border. ...

One former Congressman, who asked not to be identified for this
report, said the document seems “dubious” and “without merit.” Not only
that, it’s dated May 14th, 2007. That was six months ago. And Fort
Huachuca hasn’t seen an attack yet. ...

Still, what’s most troubling about the report is the mere possibility - and nobody’s disputing the fact this could happen.

Lending fuel to that possibility, the report says, is an arsenal of
weapons already in the United States. They include two Milan—surface to
surface, anti-tank missiles; some Soviet made surface to air missiles;
and an unspecified number of grenade launchers.

Texas' top homeland security official said Wednesday that terrorists
with ties to Hezbollah, Hamas and al-Qaida have been arrested crossing
the Texas border with Mexico in recent years.

"Has there
ever been anyone linked to terrorism arrested?" Texas Homeland Security
Director Steve McCraw said in a speech to the North Texas Crime
Commission. "Yes, there was."

(...)

McCraw identified the most notable figure captured as Farida Goolam
Mahomed Ahmed, who was arrested in July 2004 at the McAllen airport.
She carried $7,300 in various currencies and a South African passport
with pages missing. Federal officials later learned she waded across
the Rio Grande.

After her arrest, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection issued a release saying she was wanted for questioning about
the bombing of a U.S. Consulate office, jibing with similar statements
from a U.S. congressman.

(...)

McCraw also said that since March 2006, 347 people from what he
called "terrorism-related countries" have been arrested crossing the
border in Texas. The number of Iraqis captured at the border has
tripled since last year, he said.

"A porous border without question is a national security threat," he said.

ABC
News reported that the FBI was investigating the possibility that Iraqi
and other Middle Eastern immigrants might have been entering the
country illegally through a smuggling operation based in Chaparral for
more than a year.

"We've received numerous calls about an FBI intelligence bulletin that claims Iraqis are being smuggled into the U.S. in our area.
The El Paso Division does not have specific information regarding this
claim," local FBI spokes woman Andrea Simmons said in an e-mail. "I
would remind you that some intelligence information is provided in a
raw, unsubstantiated format. That information can later be proven or
disproven, but is often provided in this raw format to inform the
intelligence community of possible threats."

"We
have received reports in the last week. Human smuggling reports are
fairly common," he said, but did not detail how many reports have been
received, where they occurred or the nationality of the people
involved. He said the reports are turned over to other agencies.

Many
Chaparral residents were surprised to hear the claim that some of the
undocumented immigrants in their area might be from the Middle East.

The
report referred to by ABC News said the smuggling ring had shifted from
trafficking Mexicans to those from the Middle East because of the money
to be made in this area. Smuggled Iraqis reportedly paid between
$20,000 to $25,000 to enter the country.

Some said those entering the country through this alleged ring may simply be looking for a better life.

"It
doesn't really scare me. It surprised me, but that was it," Chaparral
resident Luz Domin guez said. "Maybe they just want to move from where
they live."

"Somebody that wants to make a change and doesn't
want to be in the conflict, I say (there's no problem). If they're
going to harm our country, I say yes," Chaparral resident Raymond
Massey said.

Some people just want all illegal immigration stopped.

"Half
of Chaparral is illegals, so what's the difference?" Chaparral resident
George Farkas asked. "It doesn't matter whether they're from here or
10,000 miles from here. Get rid of them."

Chaparral resident Michael Chavez said he hoped security was increased in light of the alleged smuggling ring.

"Our community needs to provide more security as well as law enforcement," he said.

He
is ready to step up if need be. "You don't know how powerful the people
are and what they would do," Chavez said. "If we have a conflict here
in Chaparral, I wouldn't mind putting on a uniform and fighting for
Chaparral. I'll fight for what I believe in."

We have the people, now all we need is a government willing to defend itself.

July 09, 2007

I lived two doors down from a "drop house" in the mid eighties. One day while coming home from work I saw about ten Mexican men bolt from a van into the house while the van sped away.

When I mentioned this to one of my neighbors, he said, "oh yeah, thats a drop house"

I asked him what a drop house was,"it's a place for illegals to stay overnight on their way to L.A., the coyotes drop them there"

I called the Border Patrol. They thanked me for the information and told me that there were too many places like that for them respond to them all. Basically telling me they weren't going to do anything.

About a year later, my next door neighbor complained that there were men urinating outdoors in the backyard of the "drop house". He was a Korean immigrant and couldn't understand how his neighbors could get away with that. His wife was very upset as their fence was only four feet tall, and the smell was becoming unbearable on that side of the house.

My wife called the Department of Health and complained. Finally, something was done! Our Korean neighbors thanked us profusely for solving the problem, and the coyotes finally stopped coming.

I don't live in California anymore, but I'm sure this kind of problem is even worse than it was 20 years ago. Linknzona tells of his own experience of the bureauratic run around one typically gets when a citizen tries to report illegal aliens.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

ICE is located on the Internet at http://www.ice.gov/

If you call any ICE office to report illegal aliens, they refer you to the “Tip Line” at 1-866-347-2423.

Here
you are given the option of pressing 1 for help with immigration and
obtaining citizenship and pressing 2 to report illegal or suspicious
activity. Of course, they warn you that you will be prosecuted for
giving false information and then say that all personnel are busy
please stay on the line. Then you are disconnected. Repeated calls get
the same treatment and then are disconnected.Another example of telephone games and tricks the government plays to
keep the border open and to protect illegal aliens. Is it any wonder
that the majority of the people did not trust the government to enforce
existing or any new laws and opposed the Senate amnesty bill? We knew
it was 100% amnesty and 0% enforcement.

Recall that just before
the cloture votes on the Senate bill, opponents had to call the Senate
offices and pay a long distance fee but that supporters of the Senate
bill could use a secret, toll free line. As Michelle Malkin reported
earlier and I repeated on June 16, The amnesty hotline number to get
through to your senator was 1-800-417-7666.